This invention relates to applicators for applying dental compounds to patient's teeth, and, in particular, to a sponge tipped applicator which can be used to apply etchants, sealants, primers, adhesives, and other compounds to teeth to facilitate in the treatment of the teeth.
Dental compounds are typically applied to the tooth by an applicator. Numerous types of applicators have been designed. One such applicator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,746, which is incorporated herein by reference. This applicator includes a shielded absorbent pad which is used to apply sealant to teeth. This applicator works well, but does not allow for easy control of the amount of sealant absorbed by the pad. A brush applicator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,495. This brush applicator is commercially available from Centrix, Inc. under the name "Benda-Brush." Other applicators have a pick end with a tuft of absorbent material at the end of the pick. It is difficult to control the amount of compound absorbed by, or loaded onto, the applicator. Further, it is difficult to control the release of the compound from the applicators to the teeth. Thus, where a practitioner may want to apply only a small amount of compound to a tooth, or to only a selected part of a tooth, using the prior applicators, he may inadvertently apply compound to the whole tooth, or otherwise apply more compound than desired to the tooth.